Rallarvegen: (The Romantic Rallarvegen)

August 17, 2013

Quite a few houses in Norway have real grass roofs. Here there was a whole town of them.

The next day there was no sign of rain and I was on my way to cycle the 'Rallarvegen' - an 86 kilometre long bicycle and hiking path that goes from the road at Haugastol all the way to Flåm (pronounced more like Flom) on the shores of Aurlandsfjord. The trail is in relatively good condition and follows a railway line through the mountains. Getting away from the road and any traffic, it definitely appealed to me.

After I had been cycling along the trail for a few kilometres I stumbled upon another touring cyclist going the same way as me. He introduced himself as Klaus and he was obviously from Germany (aren't they all?)

So I cycled with Klaus for a while. He was older than me, probably in his fifties. He had Ortlieb panniers with a green design on that I hadn't seen before. He told me that they were 25 years old. Apart from the design they looked almost the same as they do today and his were certainly in much better condition than mine. Klaus told me about his travels. He had cycled many times in Norway, actually having cycled the Rallarvegen twice before. "It is very romantic" he explained. And he told me about his other tours in various parts of Europe, and as he talked the scenery got more spectacular and we passed huge waterfalls and rode on towards snowy peaks.

As I kept stopping to take photos, Klaus insisted that the scenery would get much better further ahead. "Oh yes, he said, it is very romantic"

By now I was frankly getting a little worried about how often he was using this word. The life of a solo bike tourist can be a lonely one, but I'm not that desperate.

We arrived at Finse, an area where there is a railway station and hotel and a few private cabins, situated on a lake roughly halfway along the Rallarvegen. Across from the lake we could see the glacial tongues of the Hardangerjøkulen glacier, and, while I wouldn't say it was romantic, it was certainly nice. Klaus wanted to stop and get a coffee. I wanted to try and get to Flom that night, and also to avoid giving anyone the wrong impression. We said goodbye, and I cycled on alone.

Glacial tongues visible across the lake from Finse

It was pretty brilliant cycling. The path was mostly easy to cycle on except for a few rocky patches. The most difficult part came just after the highest point at 1343 metres above sea level. From there it was all downhill to Flom, which being next to a fjord was obviously at sea level. But in places it was difficult to go too fast because of the rocks and progress was slower than expected. I also kept stopping to take photographs. The weather began to worsen though, with some light rain and winds. Still, I was loving the remoteness and the natural beauty of the surroundings.

I bet you didn't know how to say 'highest point' in Norwegian when you got up this morning

So I was sitting on a rock eating an apple when I got a bit of a surprise to see Klaus cycling along the trail towards me.

"Klaus. I thought you were planning to camp up here?" I said.

"Yes but a bit further along actually. It is a very romantic spot. Very romantic." He was really starting to worry me now.

"Well, I think I will still try to get to Flom. It's a bit cold up here for camping." I tried to put him off.

"Yes but for me it is a very special spot. I have camped there twice before. Once with a girlfriend, once with my wife, and now..."

"Once with your hand Klaus, I'm going to Flom!"

Klaus cycled on but I never made it to Flom. I was worried that the light rain might turn into some heavy rain and after the day before I didn't want to get everything all wet again just before camping. I also went by some other cyclists who had set up their tents in a nice spot by a lake and I think that made me think that it would be cool to camp up in the mountains away from the world. And I was also a little bit worried that romantic Klaus might have set up some kind of ambush on the road ahead. So I pulled over and set up my tent in a beautiful location and settled in for the night.

I actually still locked my bike. To protect it from who, I couldn't tell you

Today's ride: 105 km (65 miles)
Total: 3,059 km (1,900 miles)

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